CCT chair named to tribal/federal budget council

The Chairman of the Colville Business Council has been named as a delegate to the Tribal/Department of Interior Budget Council by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

Michael O. Finley was elected as one of two ATNI delegates to this group—formerly known as the Tribal Budget Advisory Council—at ATNI’s mid-year convention, held recently in Lincoln City, Ore.

“It’s an honor to represent ATNI on the Budget Council,” Finley said. “This group helps to develop agency budgets for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, setting priorities for expenditures in Indian Country. The Budget Council can assure that the BIA addresses critical tribal needs, and that the federal government does a better job of fulfilling its trust responsibilities to all Indian people.”

Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in Sequim, Wash ., was named as the other ATNI delegate to the Budget Council. Joel Moffett, a member of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee for the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho, will serve as alternate.

“Having a seat at the table for federal budget-setting discussions can be very useful for the Colville Tribes and our membership,” Finley said. “I look forward to working with other Tribal leaders from across the nation on this important task.”

Finley has been a member of the Colville Business Council since January of 2008, and is in his third term as CBC chairman. He also serves as chairman of the board of the Intertribal Monitoring Association for Indian Trust Funds and is co-chair of the Land and Natural Resources Committee of the National Congress of American Indians.